Dummy calf



July 17, 1951 NOGLE 2560357 DUMMY CALF' Filed March 25, 1950 l'mnentor Patented July 17, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DUMMY CALF David A. Nogle, Spokane, Wash.

Application March 25, 1950, Serial No. 151,848

5 Claims. 46-161) This invention relates to a dummy calf which is intended to be used for practicing and thus increase speed in tying a calf by persons engaged in calf-roping competition in rodeos.

The proper method of tying a calf is to grasp the lower hind leg after the calf has been thrown upon its side and swing it around back of the upper hind leg and forwardly and hook it over the hock or heel and then draw both hind legs forwardly and tie the lower hind leg to one front leg of the animal.

Competitors must properly tie the calf as quickly as possible as the length of time required to do so is taken by a stop watch and it is therefore one object of the invention to provide a dummy calf which is of the size of calves used in calf-roping contests and so constructed that it may be thrown from a standing position onto its side and its legs tied in the same manner that the legs of a live calf are tied in competition.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dummy calf having a body and legs formed of moulded rubber, the legs being yieldably held in a normal position by resilient members which allow the legs to be manipulated in the usual manner and front and rear legs tied together.

Another object of the invention is to so form and mount the resilient members that the rear legs may be swung forwardly from hip portions and the front legs bent rearwardly at their shoulders and knees and the front and rear legs then tied in overlapping relation to each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dummy calf consisting of companion side sections which are vulcanized to each other to form a complete calf having a hollow body and upper leg portions, there being resilient members for yieldably holding the front and rear legs of each section in their normal positions, thus allowing the resilient members to be applied to the body portions and legs of the two sections before the said sections are secured to each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dummy calf of such construction that it constitutes a very realistic representation of a live calf and its use greatly improves and speeds up the calf-roping ability of a person practicing for rodeo competition.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view showing a dummy calf of the improved construction principally in vertical longitudinal section and partially in side elevation,

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view taken vertically through the dummy calf along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The improved dummy calf constituting the'subject matter of this invention has companion side sections I which are of duplicate formation and .seen that the two side sections are formed with cavities 9 which cooperate with each other to form the cavity I!) in the hollow body when the sections are secured to each other. This cavity It] extends the full length of the body, and into it extend a lug I l formed by inwardly thickened portions l2 of the back-forming portions of the two side sections and a second lug or shoulder I3 formed by inwardly thickened portions at the rear of theneck forming portions of the two sections.

The front and rear legs are to be normally held in the positions shown in full lines and attention is called to the fact that these legs are spread transversely to such an extent that they will support the dummy animal in a standing position when set upon its feet. In order to yieldably hold the legs in the normal position there have been provided front and rear resilient members It and I5 mounted in the cavities 9 of the two side sections, the said resilient members being formed from thick strands of resilient wire.

The strands from which the front resilient members [4 are formed are each coiled in spaced relation to its upper end to form a spring I6 from which extend upper and lower arms I! and I8. The upper arms I! are embedded in the shoulder l3 and the lower arms l8 extend downwardly into the front legs 3. Referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that the downwardly extending arm of each resilient member I 4 is curved or bowed longitudinally and in spaced relation to its lower end is coiled to form a second spring [9 from which extends a depending auxiliary arm or finger 20 which is embedded in the solid lower portion of the front leg with which the resilient member is associated. The coiled spring I9 is disposed at the bottom of the cavity 1 through which the arm [8 passes and serves as a knee joint for the front leg and in order to fill the cavity and hold the arm l8 against the front wall portion of the cavity there is employed a wedge 2| which is forced into the cavity through the open upper end thereof.

Due to this construction and arrangement of parts a front leg may be swung rearwardly from the front shoulder portion (coil l5) of the body to the position indicated by dotted lines in Figure l, and in doing so the front leg will be bent rearwardly at the knee joint (coil I9).

: The resilient wire from which the spring mem-" her l5 for each rear leg is formed is coiled in spaced relation to its upper end to form a spring 22 and arms 23 and 2 1. The arm 23 extends forwardly from the spring 22 in a horizontal position and is embedded in the thickened portion l2 forming a side portion of the lug II to serve as an anchor for the spring and the arm 24 extends downwardly from the spring and is curved or bowed longitudinally so that it is disposed at a rearward incline. This arm 24 extends to the bottom of the cavity 8 of the rear leg with which it is associated and at the bottom of the cavity the arm is bent downwardly to form a shank 25 which is straight throughout its length and is embedded in the solid lower portion of the leg. The rear legs are normally held in the position shown in Figure l but when one leg is grasped by its solid lower portion it may be .swung forwardly with the spring 22 serving as a hip joint.

When the dummy calf is in use it is set in a standing position upon the ground and the performer training for a calf roping contest in a rodeo grasps the dummy in the usual manner and throws it upon the ground in such position that it rests upon its side. The method followed in tying a thrown calf is to grasp the lower rear leg and swing it forwardly and across the upper rear leg in such position that it is hooked back of the hock or heel 26 of the upper rear leg. Forward pull upon the grasped rear leg is continued and both .rear legs will be swung forwardly until the grasped rear leg overlaps the front leg which has been swung rearwardly to the position indicated by dotted lines in Figure 1 and the overlapped or cross portions of the said front and rear legs are then tied together with a piece of rope of the proper length. It will thus be seen that the dummy calf will be thrown and tied in the usual manner in which a live calf is thrown and tied in a rodeo and a person may practice throwing and tying a calf without danger of injury to a live calf.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A dummy animal comprising side sections formed of pliable elastic material and firmly secured to each other, said sections forming a hollow body having front and rear legs extending downwardly therefrom and a forwardly extending neck and head, the contacting upper portions of the side sections being inwardly thickened and forming a thick back for the body, the neck-forming portions of said sections being solid and having portions extending into the front end of the body and forming a shoulder disposed in upwardly spaced relation to the front legs, the said front and rear legs having hollow upper portions and solid lower portions, and resilient members yieldably holding the front and rear legs in position to support the dummy animal in a standing position, the resilient members for the rear legs each consisting of a strand of resistant metal coiled to form a spring disposed in the upper portion of the hollow body rearwardly of the thickened back and arms extending forwardly from the spring and downwardly from opposite sides of the spring, said forward arm imbedded in the thickened back and the downwardly extending arm entering a rear leg and the shoulder and a downwardly extending arm extending downwardly through the hollow upper portion of a front leg and coiled to form a second spring disposed at the bottom of the hollow upper portion of the said front leg and provided with a downwardly extending arm embedded longitudinally in the solid lower portion of the front leg and plugs fitted tightly in the hollow portions of the front legs and holding the resilient strands firmly in place.

2. A dummy animal comprising a body formed of pliable material and having a head at its front end and downwardly extending front and rear legs, said body being hollow and formed internally with an inwardly extending boss along its back and also being formed with an internal shoulder above the front legs, there being cavities leading from the hollow body into the rear legs to hocks thereof and into the front legs to knee joints thereof, springs in the rear portion of said body having arms embedded in said boss and other arms extending downwardly through the cavities of the rear leg and embedded in solid lower portions of the rear legs, and springs in the front portion of the body and having upw rdly extending arm embedded in the shoulders and downwardly extending arms passing through the cavities of the front legs and coiled to form springs disposed at the bottoms of the front cavities and provided with depending fingers embedded. in solid lower portions of the front legs.

3. A dummy animal comprising a hollow body of elastic material having front and rear legs extending downwardly therefrom, upper portions of said legs being formed with cavities communicating with the hollow body, and coiled springs in front and r ar portions of the hollow body having upper arms embedded in portions of the body and also having downwardly extending arms extending into the front and rear legs and embedded in lower portions thereof.

4. A dummy animal comprising a hollow body of elastic material having front and rear legs extending downwardly therefrom, upper portions of said legs being formed with cavities communicating with the hollow body, and coiled springs in front and rear portions of the hollow body anchored to portions of the body and having depending arms extending through the cavities of the front and rear legs and anchored to solid lower portions of the legs.

5. A dummy animal comprising a hollow body of elastic material having front and rear legs extending downwardly therefrom, upper portions of said legs being formed with cavities communicating with the hollow body, and coiled springs in front and rear portions of the hollow body anchored to portions of the body and having depending arms extending through the cavities of the front and rear legs and embedded in solid lower portions thereof, the arms in the front legs having portions coiled and forming knee joints located at the bottoms of the cavities of the front egs.

DAVID A. NOGLE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,438,108 Gund Dec. 5, 1922 2,404,477 Ellis July 23, 1946 2,469,892 Rempel May 10, 1949 

